The gold-standard for evaluating the effect of an educational intervention on student outcomes is running a randomized controlled trial (RCT). However, RCTs may often be small due to logistical considerations, and resulting treatment effect estimates may lack precision. Recent methods improve experimental precision by incorporating information…

Recent methods have sought to improve precision in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) by utilizing data from large observational datasets for covariate adjustment. For example, consider an RCT aimed at evaluating a new algebra curriculum, in which a few dozen schools are randomly assigned to treatment (new curriculum) or control (standard…

Recent research has demonstrated an intersectional approach to the study of differential item functioning (DIF). This approach expands DIF to account for the interactions between what have traditionally been treated as separate grouping variables. In this paper, we compare traditional and intersectional DIF analyses using data from a state testing…

State education departments find themselves pressured to reduce costs while improving student performance. To do so, state education departments must measure the performance of each school district in an objective, data-informed manner. We present a benchmarking methodology and illustrate its application in New York State school districts. We…

Despite many calls, there is little research addressing teachers' knowledge of reading assessments and how they utilize assessments for reading instruction. Therefore, the current research developed and validated a reliable measure of teachers' perceptions and knowledge of reading assessments, called the "Perceptions and Knowledge of…

Many school systems ask teachers to assess and report upon aspects of student performance beyond academic achievement. In Ontario, K-12 teachers assess a common set of six Learning Skills and Work Habits. How well teachers are able to undertake these assessments is not well studied. This study examines Grade 9 and 12 report card data from two…

An administrative rule allowed students who failed an exam to retake it shortly after, triggering strong `teach to the test' incentives to raise these students' test scores for the retake. We develop a model that accounts for truncation and find that these students score 0.14 standard deviations higher on the retest. Using a regression…

Credit recovery in public education has become an intervention used widely in the United States to address the rising number of students who are not meeting with success in the completion of required courses in the traditional education setting. With the passing of the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015, public schools sought a method to motivate…

In light of the emergence of statistical analysis techniques based on data mining in education sciences, and the potential they offer to detect non-trivial information in large databases, this paper presents a procedure used to detect factors linked to academic achievement in large-scale assessments. The study is based on a non-experimental,…

This mixed method study explored and analyzed instructional strategies utilized by algebra teachers whose students' coursework culminated in the New York State Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra and for whom 50% of the tested cohort earned mastery level (85 or higher) on the examination. The targeted populations were eighth or ninth grade…

The Forum Guide to Early Warning Systems provides information and best practices to help education agencies plan, develop, implement, and use an early warning system in their agency to inform interventions that improve student outcomes. The document includes a review of early warning systems and their use in education agencies and explains the…

The Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB's) case study series highlights best practices High Schools That Work (HSTW) network schools and districts are implementing to better prepare students for further studies and careers. Lee's Summit West (LSW) High School near Kansas City, Missouri, boasts of a 99 percent graduation rate; 93 percent of…

The first-year grade point average (FYGPA) is the predominant measure of student success in most studies on university admission. Previous cognitive achievements measured with high school grades or standardized tests have been found to be the strongest predictors of FYGPA. For this reason, standardized tests measuring cognitive achievement are…

This paper provides evidence on the sources of differences in inequality in educational scores and their evolution over time in four European countries. Using Programme for International Student Assessment data from the 2000 and the 2006 waves, the paper shows that inequality decreased in Germany and Spain (two "decentralised" schooling…

California's alternative education options for youth vulnerable to dropping out of school have been established at different historical points and for different student age and target populations. For purposes of this brief, "alternative school" is defined as belonging to one of six legislatively authorized types of public (non-charter)…